Landowners have called on the Government to put more emphasis on protecting valuable agricultural land from the risk of flooding.
The CLA, which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses said in a government consultation on flood risk management that the Government approach to funding flood defence work continues to discriminate against rural and coastal areas in favour of towns and residential properties which risks UK food security.
CLA President Henry Robinson said: “Flood alleviation and coastal defence policies should protect good agricultural land for food production and not just surrendering it to water.
“The Government must provide more support to help farmers and landowners play a part in mitigating flood risk in local areas. We need new tax relief on capital investments as well as income tax relief for all forms of flood defence work carried out by individuals and businesses. A more sympathetic planning system for the construction of flood defences and on-farm reservoirs is also desperately needed.”
